This article reported on a study focuses on student teachers’ evaluations of a university teacher training programme in the context of a university–school partnership model. This model was integrated for the first time into the academic programme of a university teacher education department in Israel. The presented local case of a clinical, practice-driven professional programme within a research university model reflects the dual structural complexity described above, both pragmatically -in terms of allotting appropriate resources- and politically -in terms of its academic recognition. In addition, the findings of this study suggest that besides bridging theory and practice, the university coordinator functioned as a legitimate mediator between the university and the workplace.